Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Croquettes From Left-overs
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Chop the meat, fowl, or fish very fine.
Prepare a cream sauce and stir in the chopped meat.
If using, mix in mashed potatoes or boiled rice.
Shape and cook
Roll out the pastry very thin and cut into small pieces.
Wet the edges of the pastry, place a spoonful of the meat mixture on it, fold over, and pinch the edges together.
Mark the edges with a fork and brush with egg yolk.
Fry in hot lard or bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C).
Serve
Serve on a hot platter garnished with parsley.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Meat + potatotop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together786 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cooked meat, fowl, or fish
- Forms the savoury filling that gives each croquette its main flavour and body.
- Cream sauce
- Binds the chopped meat into a moist, cohesive filling that holds its shape.
- Mashed potatoes or boiled rice
- Optional starch that adds bulk and softness to the filling.
- Pastry
- Encloses the filling and browns during frying or baking to form a crisp outer shell.
- Egg yolk
- Brushed on the surface to promote even browning and a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Pinching the pastry edges. The edges must be wet and sealed firmly, or the filling can leak out during frying or baking and the croquette may open.
Swap the potato
The recipe marks potato as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, cream, sauce, egg, onion, parsley):
- Shallotfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Horseradishfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, cream, sauce, egg, onion, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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